


Genesis

by bendingthewillow



Category: Elementary (TV)
Genre: Autistic Sherlock, Brief mention of drugs, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-13
Updated: 2014-08-13
Packaged: 2018-02-11 14:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2070996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bendingthewillow/pseuds/bendingthewillow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In 2008, Sherlock attends the world premiere of "In Seven Days" by Thomas Adès (with video artist Tal Rosner) in London.</p><p>In 2014, Joan deduces the exact impact that concert had on Sherlock.</p><p>I do not own the characters, and the story was written purely for entertainment. The story in itself both plays with and keeps to Elementary canon as far as timeline and plot are concerned.</p><p>Sherlock is autistic regardless of Elementary canon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Genesis

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nicocoer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicocoer/gifts).



\--

2008

\--

The 26 via Shoreditch High Street had approached Waterloo Station at just after 7PM when Sherlock felt a vibration from his left jean pocket.

Sherlock huffed.

Left jean pocket meant iPhone. The right had his burner phone.

Sherlock’s iPhone vibrating only meant one thing – his father was about to cancel on their plans. Again.

“In Seven Days”, composed by Thomas Adès and in collaboration with video artist Tal Rosner, was having its world premiere at the Royal Festival Hall that evening – a “father son outing”, as pitched by the elder Holmes as a manipulation tool towards the younger.

Sherlock agreed to go in an attempt to shut him up and shut him out for a week, he hoped.

Sherlock waited to check his phone until he got off the crowded bus at the station. Feeling the scattered raindrops on his head, Sherlock leaned against the nearest wall from the stop, blocking the rain from getting onto the screen.

As expected, the text from his father was brief and impersonal.

“Urgent business has presented itself at the office. Enjoy Box Five in my absence.”

Cancelling plans 30 minutes before the event was, to Sherlock, kind. At least in comparison to no explanation at all, which had happened before. As much as Sherlock was now used to this pattern, it still irritated him to no end.

Sherlock considered hopping back on the 26 opposite the station. Then he remembered another option: Rhys at times sold overpriced coke to the tourists along the back streets of the South Bank and in Soho. 

Making his way across the street, Sherlock put away his iPhone in exchange for texting Rhys on his burner phone. If Rhys could provide an escape, and company, then that night wouldn’t be a complete loss.

Ten minutes later, Sherlock stood in front of the Royal Festival Hall. He felt a buzz from his right jean pocket. Burner phone.

Sherlock read the text.

“Can’t. With Emily until her plane leaves. Not often I get to see her. – Rhys”

Sherlock bounced on his toes in frustration, with his arms firmly at his side. Passerby’s walked past; a few stared at Sherlock for a second or two, but said nothing. Not to his face, anyway.

Not getting consistency from his father was one thing, but to not find any sort of anchor, or support person (as much as he avoided admitting that need aloud), overwhelmed Sherlock.

Sherlock tried to focus on the sounds of the Thames to calm down. Instead he got distracted with snippets of people’s voices. 

One person talked about how empty Borough Market was and how awful it smelled. 

A couple was figuring out where to find Southwark Station, pronouncing it “South Wark” as two separate words.

A young voice said the words, “In Seven Days” and Sherlock held onto those words as he started to ease back from the meltdown. He walked a few steps closer to the young voice (a young adult, Sherlock figured), who stood by the RFH doors, talking on the phone.

“Guardian says it’s like Fantasia on blast or some shit.”

Sherlock, realizing that the burner phone was still in his hand (and not lost, or smashed to pieces on the ground), checked the time, and saw that it was 7:22PM.

“It better not be like Fantasia 2000,” Sherlock muttered under his breath, and made his way into the Hall. Sherlock, embarrassed from having a meltdown in public, avoided eye contact as much as he could until he arrived at Box Five.

\--

Before the London Sinfonietta got to Adès’ “In Seven Days” piece, Sherlock had to sit through an hour of their rendition of Steve Reich’s “Music for 18 Musicians”. It took Sherlock digging his fingernails into his thighs, five times, to prevent himself from shutting down, each time digging deeper than the last.

Sherlock failed to look at the concert programme he received, so he was not aware of Ades’ intended Genesis theme to “In Seven Days”.

The six screens featured above the orchestra was a surprise to him.

Sherlock first noticed the Fantasia connection when the woodwind instruments prompted light blue abstract shapes on screens 1 and 2. The blue shapes appeared on the other 4 screens in a random order. He was half convinced that Rosner attempted to recreate the ghosts from Pac Man, and utterly failed.

When the pianist prompted the rectangles on the screens into a kaleidoscope effect the first time, that’s what hooked Sherlock into the piece.

The pianist seemed to be the main focus of the piece, sharing the space with the woodwind instruments as each segment went by. The woodwind instruments added layers to the kaleidoscope that the pianist started. At one point, the flutes prompted tiny flickering yellow spots, which Sherlock assumed to be like flying bugs.

The brass instruments were another feature that Sherlock noticed, usually ignored by him in favour of the strings. At first, the brass section led the ocean-like waves, with windmill lines in front, until the ocean-wave design on the screens only appeared on the windmill lines.

The kaleidoscope effect got more restless closer to the end of the performance, which then transitioned to the light blue abstract shapes, similar to the ones at the start of the piece. The difference at this point was that the flickering blue shapes were only accompanied with the piano, instead of playing alongside the woodwinds.

It made no sense to Sherlock. Without the woodwind instruments, it didn’t match up. The shapes turned stoic and seemed to float into nothingness. 

Sherlock heard the strings during the very last notes.

\--

Sherlock couldn’t recall how long he spent sitting in his seat after the concert concluded. He felt like it was hours. The patterns on the screens kept playing in his head, the kaleidoscopes in particular, in a loop. Everything external was blocked out. Sherlock focused on memorizing all the details he could, which kaleidoscope started on which screen, and with what design. With multiple screens used during the performance, it proved to be a significant challenge. A worthy challenge. Fresh. New.

Why not practice one’s memory with just one TV, when you can have many, he thought.

Sherlock felt the slight shake on his shoulder from the janitor of the RFH, who had tried to get his attention verbally but had not gotten a response.

Abruptly aware of his location, Sherlock jumped out of his seat and walked out as fast as he could without acknowledging the janitor.

Once outside the RFH, Sherlock found the South Bank, now way past dusk, emptier with the tourist crowds scattered to their respective pubs of choice. He walked his way back to Waterloo Station and texted Rhys.

“Need 6 TVs. Xplain l8r.”

Sherlock hesitated over pressing the send button. He erased the message and re-wrote it, then pressed send.

“U can make it up to me. U still have contact @ Currys? Need 7 TVs. Xplain l8r.”

\--

2014

\--

It had been two weeks since Joan agreed to resume her detective partnership with Sherlock. 

Their new arrangement, since Joan moved out of the Brownstone and Sherlock reemerged in New York after his MI6 assignment, limited their work together to whenever Joan was free. Sherlock went back to consulting for the NYPD, and Joan was starting to get back into medicine.

Joan came over to the Brownstone, and saw that the media room was set up in preparation for a movie night, which she wasn’t expecting. A bowl of popcorn was placed on a table in between the armchairs, which faced the seven TVs.

“Remember when you told me that talking about events from my past might be beneficial towards my recovery,” Sherlock asked as he walked into the media room.

Joan turned her head, “Yeah, but didn’t that conversation happen almost two years ago?”

Sherlock swatted the air in front of his face, as if that concept of time wasn’t relevant.

Ignoring the question, Sherlock sat down and continued, “I recently found a youtube video of a concert piece I saw back in London. The video itself, I believe, is from a different performance. It’s not something that’s really triggering for me, recovery-wise, but I thought, maybe I could show you that piece of my past”. 

Sherlock wondered if he would be able to see something different in the performance now than what he saw in 2008. A small part of him was slightly nervous.

“’In Seven Days’,” Joan commented, “A Genesis message?”

“Yes. Something that had slipped my mind at the time,” Sherlock replied.

“Were you high?”

“No. Just extremely overwhelmed.”

Joan nodded. She leaned forward and pointed at the screens.

“Am I watching the origin of your memory exercise routine,” Joan asked as she noticed the six screens in the video.

Sherlock drummed his left fingers on the armchair and gave Joan a small smile, which read to her as an affirmation.

Sherlock said, “I promise you I have not seen this since the premiere, so even my memory skills will be hazy.”

Joan smiled, leaned back, and got comfortable in her armchair. Sherlock began the video.

\--

END

**Author's Note:**

> The mention of Shoreditch High Street at the beginning is located close to Elementary's 221B Baker Street, where Sherlock lived in London at that point in time.
> 
> The world premiere of "In Seven Days" was at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 28 April 2008.
> 
> The Guardian article mentioned by the person at the RFH can be read here (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3672719/In-Seven-Days-Disneys-Fantasia-the-sequel.html).
> 
> The Box Five reference is a tiny nod to the Phantom of the Opera, mostly for my own amusement than anything else.


End file.
